Image Gallery: Hands-on with the Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two

Summary: Microsoft just announced their latest mobile phone project, targeted at the feature phone market. The KIN ONE and KIN TWO run a version of Windows Phone that is optimized for the socialologist who wants to share their life with friends. These two devices will be launching in May on Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, but no pricing or plan information has yet been revealed.Make sure to check out the thoughts about the Kin One and Two from my two teenage daughters on the ZDNet Smartphones & Cell Phones blog post.

Microsoft just announced their latest mobile phone project, targeted at the feature phone market. The KIN ONE and KIN TWO run a version of Windows Phone that is optimized for the socialologist who wants to share their life with friends. These two devices will be launching in May on Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, but no pricing or plan information has yet been revealed.

After you open the tube, the inner tube with green elastic band is found inside.

There is an envelope with Quick Start Guide and other information pamphlets inside.

The KIN TWO is placed in a molded section on the left side.

On the right side, under the envelope, you will find a USB cable, A/C adapter, and stereo headphones.

These are the included accessories that come in your KIN tube.

The QWERTY keyboard is actually quite large on the KIN ONE, even though the device is very compact.

Here you can see the buttons are large, well spaced, and visually easy to see. I found travel to also be quite good.

The KIN ONE is compact and fits well in your hand.

When the display is slid down over the keyboard the KIN ONE fits within the palm of my hand.

The 5 megapixel camera, flash and a barcode are found on the textured back.

The LED flash is very small, but amazingly bright and I like what Microsoft has done with the camera on these devices.

There is a flush 3.5mm headset jack on the top of the KIN ONE.

There is a center button to quickly navigate the device and a small hole for the phone mic.

microUSB is used to charge up your device and connect to a PC.

Both devices have a camera button that is clearly defined and easy to press so taking photos is a focus of the devices.

Close up view of the KIN ONE keyboard.

Notice the emoticon key on the lower right side of the KIN ONE keyboard?

Here is what the Apps screen looks like. I felt a bit cramped on the KIN ONE.

This is a typical Loop screen on the KIN ONE.

I like the way that Microsoft hides this kind of information unless the user really wants to see it.

Does this look familiar?

Typical look at the photos on the KIN ONE.

As you can see the QWERTY keyboard is quite spacious on the KIN TWO.

The characters appear quite large so that the entire character is not visible on each key.

The display shows quite a bit of information on the KIN TWO.

An 8 megapixel camera is found on the KIN TWO.

The headset jack on the KIN TWO is recessed quite a bit and may present issues for some headsets.

A volume button is present on both KIN devices.

The silver camera button is a highlight on the KIN TWO, just like on the KIN ONE.

I am pleased to see standard microUSB used on the KIN devices.

The Apps screen shows much more on the KIN TWO than on the KIN ONE.

The KIN TWO is quite a bit larger than the KIN ONE, but still fits well in my hand.

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Sometimes the kitten will pose for photos.

The lighting wasn't necessarily the best for capturing this image.

This photo was taken in a low lit room after coming back from a run.

I took this photo using the Kin One in full sunlight.

This sailboat arrived in port just as we were walking around the city.

Matthew Miller started using a mobile devices in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since. He is a co-host with GigaOM's Kevin Tofel on the MobileTechRoundup podcast and an author of three Wiley Companion series books. Matthew started using mobile devices with a US Robotics Pilot 1000 and has owned over 200 d...
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Disclosure

Matthew is a professional naval architect by day and a mobile gadgeteer at all other times. He purchases his own devices and then sells them on eBay or Swappa to buy more. Many other devices are sent for review on a 30-day loaner basis and then returned to the carrier or manufacturer. If any are provided as &#8220;long term loaner units&#8221 this will be clearly disclosed in his reviews.